Missing fisherman's body recovered from Utah Lake

There will be some sense of relief they will no longer have to search, but the mourning and the sense of tragedy continues for the family. But they are relieved to know he has been found.—Utah County Sheriff Sgt. Spencer Cannon

LINDON, Utah County — The body of a fisherman missing for two weeks was recovered Saturday from Utah Lake.

Search crews were preparing to make another effort to find the body of 37-year-old Tam Huynh, when about 9:45 a.m., Huynh's brother spotted something unusual about 300 yards west of the Lindon Marina, said Utah County Sheriff Sgt. Spencer Cannon.

Utah Lake State Park crews arrived first to the scene and confirmed it was Huynh's body.

Huynh, an avid fisherman, mysteriously disappeared March 30. He left his home in West Valley City to go fishing on Utah Lake as he did frequently. About 5:30 p.m. that day, his empty 18-foot boat was found drifting in shallow water in some reeds near the Lindon Boat Harbor, with the key turned on and the boat's engine set at half throttle.

There were no signs of obvious trauma on the body outside of drowning, and there was no indication about what may have happened to Huynh, Cannon said. An autopsy will be conducted by the Utah State Medical Examiner's Office to determine if he possibly suffered a medical problem before going into the water. He was not wearing a life jacket.

Huynh's family had been going to the marina regularly to help with the search. Cannon said the man had been missing for so long that the sheriff's office was preparing to hand out photos of him to the public on the off chance he was still alive.

"(The family was) at a point where they really didn't know what to do more," he said. "They were hoping against all hope that their brother might be found alive still."

But Cannon said investigators did not believe that would be the outcome.

Because of the temperature of the water, investigators believe Huynh's body sank to the bottom of the lake, and it took longer than it would in the summer for nature to take its course and for the body to float to the top.

Although Utah Lake is only 10- to 12-feet deep in most spots, it has notoriously poor visibility under the water. Cannon said the body was found right on the edge of where the search area had been focusing for the past couple of weeks.

Now, the family can have some closure, he said.

"There will be some sense of relief they will no longer have to search, but the mourning and the sense of tragedy continues for the family. But they are relieved to know he has been found," Cannon said.